Barely two months before the curtain was due to go up on Sydney’s Consumer Electronics and Entertainment (CEE) show, the event has been cancelled. The show, which had run annually since 2000, was intended to run over three days in June at the Hordern Pavilion.

But show organisers insist the show will return in 2005, although it will move from Sydney to Melbourne.

It would run at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre in June 2005, before returning to Sydney in 2006, CEE director, Scott Wallace, said.

The decision to cancel the 2004 show was due to venue limitations and industry request, he said.

A CEE employee also cited a lack of new products, and the absence of several key vendors, for the decision.

“In making this decision we sought advice from our exhibitors and the industry as a whole,” Wallace said. “The support to add Melbourne to our calendar was overwhelming.”

“There are some major industry launches locked in by some of the world’s biggest companies in computer electronics [CE] for 2005 and CEE will continue its role as the excellent consumer platform upon which we can help CE, gaming, entertainment, telecommunications and camera companies meet face-to-face with their consumers,” Wallace said.

CEE claimed that 42,000 people visited the show in 2003.

But despite the cancellation of this year’s CEE, the Australian consumer electronics market is looking healthy, according to GfK consumer electronics analyst Derek Nash.

GfK had observed positive growth across a range of consumer electronic categories, including LCD and plasma TVs, DVDs and DVD recorders, and digital cameras, Nash said.

“The only decline is in traditional video recorders and probably video tapes,” he said.